The Prefabricated Accessible Technological Homes (or P.A.T.H.) are high-end, luxury prefab homes, which are capable of producing more energy that they require. These homes were created by French designer and architect Philippe Starck in collaboration with Slovenian prefabricated housing specialist Riko. The two partners are selling these homes under the name “Starck with Riko”.(more…)

Repurposing materials to create a home is at the heart of any sustainable living endeavor. The tiny home recently built by Stefan Cook of A Biggish Tiny House is a prime example of repurposing and salvaging building materials done right. He’s a resident of Christchurch, New Zealand, which experienced devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Stefan salvaged the materials left behind by the devastation to build his own tiny home and recently gave a tour of it at Living Big in a Tiny House.(more…)

Studio Gang Architects of Chicago recently released a series of early pictures of a new LEED Gold project that they are designing. The residential building will be built in the Buena Vista neighborhood of Miami, FL by 2016 and it will feature a number of sustainable and eco-friendly technologies, which the architects plan to meet the standards of a LEED Gold certification. The design itself is also pretty futuristic in its own right.(more…)

Cities of the future will almost certainly need to be both larger and much more sustainable than they currently are. Due to this assumption, the logical solution is huge mega-skyscrapers, which are capable of producing their own power and handling their own waste. One such design was recently put forth by Urban Future Organization in partnership with CR-Design in the form of the Cloud Citizen building complex which is to be built in Shenzhen, China. Their idea is actually a whole sprawling complex of interconnected buildings, which includes great spaces and comes with a number of sustainable features.(more…)

A team of researchers at the Ohio State University (OSU) successfully produced a dye-sensitized solar cell, which can store power by using air to decompose and re-form lithium peroxide. This device combines a solar cell and battery into one, and it is the first device of its kind. The adoption of this technology could also considerably lower the costs of solar cells.

Living tiny is all about sacrificing the non-essentials and learning how to make do with less space. But just because a home is small does not have to mean that it’s also cramped. The Matchbox, which was recently built in Washington DC by Jay Austin, is a great example of just how cozy and functional a tiny home can be.